Sunday, 2 October 2016

Thank you Iain!

You all know that the subject of this blog is amateur rocket engineering. I've always thought of myself as the most amateur of amateurs, but I'm pleased to report that my small attempts have garnered attention on the other side of the world.Iain Finer is in New Zealand and is therefore my Commonwealth cousin, as well as a brother in the fraternity of rocket engine constructors. No slouch in the engineering department, Iain has completed an excellent regeneratively cooled liquid fuelled engine, shown below. Not content with his own masterful efforts, he spends the rest of his time reporting on all things reaction related, i.e. what the rest of us are up to.This he does through the medium of his superb blog "Mach 5 Low-down":- https://mach5lowdown.wordpress.comIain has very kindly picked up on my tube bundle concept and has added British Reaction Research to his list of featured blogs. I have to confess that I am getting a nice warm glow from the knowledge that I am now up there with all those luminaries. Then again, it could just be that I have left the heat treatment kiln on again...Here is Iain's completed engine, as promised. He is currently in the middle of building a test stand for this beauty, and I can't wait to see some mach diamonds:-

Thanks again Iain for your interest in my project. Now I'll have to produce something worthy of your august pages...Stay tuned.

About this blog

This blog describes the research, design and construction of a Liquid Rocket Engine.
As such it will include information regarding the design and construction of rocket engine components.
This will encompass theoretical and performance concerns, as well as machining, welding and manufacturing techniques used to overcome the various problems encountered.
In addition, my interests in this direction include control and data acquisition. So there will be posts regarding electronic systems and microcontrollers.
It is my hope that as well as being of interest to the rocket engine community, it should also become a repository of general amateur engineering information.
I was inspired to create a blog by the groundswell of interest that I have had in my project from people I have met. I have found that their reactions tend to go from perplexity to enthusiasm rapidly! The main question most people have is not to do with the technical obstacle to be overcome. Most of those who have asked me about my project have wanted to know "Why are you doing this?" So I will try to give some answers to this and to explore my motivation to think, research, create and construct.